Accidents Caused By Drivers Not Maintaining Cars

Friday, 5. February 2010

Brake, the road safety charity and Direct Line have issued a warning article about the care of safety components such as tyres and brakes, things I have touched on previously. The fact is that far too many drivers rely on a service or MOT to identify faults and wear when in fact drivers should take more responsibility themselves. Andy Goldby, director of underwriting at Direct Line said ‘Drivers seem to be willing to Read more »

Massive Toyota Recall

Monday, 1. February 2010

Whilst the world’s biggest car manufacturer flounders around trying to find out why their cars have a habit of accelerating out of control and then not stopping with horrendous consequences, General Motors, in the US, is capitalising out of Toyota’s problems by offering incentives for people to move out of their Toyota and into a GM car offering such incentives as 5 year interest free finance, cashbacks and help to Read more »

Are You Fit To Drive – Better Information Required

Sunday, 31. January 2010

A Department for Transport study found that healthcare workers needed more guidance on assessing whether a patient is fit to drive. They feel that more responsibility should be passed to the driver who should be made aware of the DVLA medical standards and make their own decision as to whether they feel as though they are fit to drive within the guidelines. Some things are fairly obvious such as a broken foot or Read more »

Employer Responsibilities When Staff Work From Home

Saturday, 30. January 2010

Business Insurance specialists Premierline warned employers that when they allow employees to work from home they are still responsible for their welfare in the same way, I guess, as employees that use their own cars for company business. According to the Department for Labour the employer has the same responsibilities as he would for any other employee at work. Whilst it is accepted that some controls are Read more »

Check Tyre Pressures After The Bad Weather

Friday, 29. January 2010

I’ve pointed out the importance of correct tyre pressures in the past but during the recent bad weather many motorists are believed to have dropped their tyre pressures in order to increase the grip on roads covered in ice and packed snow. It is important, if you did this, to re-inflate to the correct pressure. In fact, according to compressor manufacturer Ring Automotive, you should check your tyre pressures Read more »

Things To Beware Of When Making A Finance Application

Wednesday, 27. January 2010

Cleaning up your credit file has never been more important. Less money is available to lend which means that you really must make sure that you have no errors on your file and anything that can be corrected is corrected before you apply for finance. Even using a bad broker, who makes multiple applications to several finance companies, using your single finance application, can cause you to have your credit Read more »

Part Exchange Disasters

Tuesday, 26. January 2010

Carsite, the online reseller of ex lease cars, has used their experience gained over the last few years to identify the top 10 contributors to a sharp intake of breath from the car dealer, when you part exchange your car, which results in much less being offered for you car than would have been otherwise. They have even suggested what the dealer is likely to knock off his offer as a result. Some things are damage items such Read more »

Potholes Continue To Get Worse As Authorities Leave Them

Tuesday, 26. January 2010

Following the bad weather there have been reports from all over the country that pot holes, some the size of a small cave, have opened up on not just minor and B roads but also on A roads. Even some motorways have some nasty craters on them as I experienced a few evenings ago on the M25. This is clearly the result of budget cuts and either Bodgit and co – road workers carrying out the work or those gentle folk that Read more »

How Does A DSG Auto Box Work

Tuesday, 26. January 2010

I have been asked on many occasions what a DSG gearbox is. As the question came up in the latest edition of What Car I thought I’d cover it. The simple explanation is that unlike a fully automatic box which has no clutch, just a torque converter, a DSG or Direct Shift Gearbox is an automated manual box with two clutches. Whilst in one gear the next gear is effectively pre-selected which allows for much faster gear Read more »

Big Brother And Gmail Emails

Sunday, 24. January 2010

Whilst this has little to do with vehicle finance I read with interest the way that Google withdrew from China as a result of the Chinese government hacking into Chinese user’s emails and other online information in order to control the way that its citizens think and act. I then read that Google have found a new way to monetize emails. Most of us are aware of adwords, these are the sponsored ads that appear when Read more »